KosherEye.com
Photo: Rose Levy Bernambaum - recipe, Marcy Goldman
An Original Recipe by Marcy Goldman, BetterBaking.Com
Bubka is pure heaven – because it strikes just the right note of sweetness – being neither pastry nor bread. It is relatively easy to make – not as complicated as true Danish with its rolled in blocks of butter but certainly richer and more moist than an average sweet dough. With so few bakeries outside of big cities making real bubka anymore, making your own is a noble thing. Freeze the extra one and bake on another day or make one huge one. This cinnamon bubka is a lovely bread for a weekend of casual friends and drop-by guests. Use your mixer or bread machine to make the dough. A cinnamon schmear, by the way, which is the filling, is a sweet goo of cinnamon, corn syrup and ground nuts.
Ingredients:
Dough:
1/2 cup warm water
2 tablespoons dry yeast
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup warm evaporated milk or regular milk
2 drops almond extract
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened in small pieces
6 cups approximately, all-purpose flour or bread flour or half-and-half combination
Cinnamon Schmear Filling:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2-4 teaspoons cinnamon or, for chocolate, 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional
Egg wash or l beaten egg
Sugar for sprinkling
Crumb Topping:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup scant, confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Directions:
For dough, in the mixing bowl of a mixer, hand whisk together water and yeast. Let stand about a minute to allow yeast to dissolve. Stir in one cup of the flour called for, then the warm milk, the eggs, vanilla, almond extract, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Fold in softened butter and most of the remaining flour, holding back some until you see if you need all over it (or may have to add a bit). Mix the dough and then, with dough hook, knead on slow speed 8-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
Remove the dough hook from the mixer, spray the dough with non-stick cooking spray and cover the entire mixer (bowl, machine and all) with a large plastic bag.
Allow to rise until puffy, about 45-90 minutes.
For the Cinnamon Schmear Filling: In a food processor, process the butter, sugar, corn syrup, cinnamon and walnuts to make a loose paste.
For the Crumb Topping: Cut butter, confectioners' sugar and flour together to make a crumbly topping.
Divide the dough in two equal parts. Cover with a tea towel and let rest ten minutes. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or generously grease two 9 inch springform or layer cake pans. If making one large bubka, generously butter a 10 inch tube pan. Have ready, a large baking sheet topped with a sheet of parchment paper.
On a lightly floured board, roll dough into a 16 by 16 inch square. Arrange or spread on filling of choice (variations below) all over dough surface. Roll up dough into a large jellyroll. Cut in half. Place both halves in prepared pan, beside each other - it doesn't matter if they are a little squished. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with some sugar. Place the pans on the baking sheet and cover the entire sheet with a large plastic bag. Let rise until bubka is flush or over top of pan.
Repeat with other half of dough, using a different filling or additional cinnamon filling, if desired.
To use all of dough in one large bubka, procedure is the same but you will be using all of dough at once. Roll dough out into a 20 inch square (instead of 16 by 16) and proceed as above. A large bubka is especially dramatic but two smaller ones give you two flavor and assembly options.
Brush the bubkas with the egg wash then sprinkle with Crumb Topping.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake 35-45 minutes (50-70 minutes for one large bubka) until bubka is medium brown. Cool pan fifteen minutes before removing to a rack or serving plate.
Notes:
Yield: Makes one large or two medium bubkas
(To freeze one, let it rise about 10-20% then freeze on a baking sheet for an hour. Then wrap well. To bake, cover in plastic lightly and let defrost in fridge overnight. Let sit an hour on the counter or so, then bake.)
Recipes: Desserts, Bubka, Sweet Yeast Dough, Dairy, Kosher
© This is a Marcy Goldman/BetterBaking.com original recipe
This recipe is for sole, personal use of visitors of BetterBaking.Com Online Magazine. Marcy Goldman/ BetterBaking.com recipes are for your enjoyment but not to be posted or reprinted without express permission of the author/baker. Thank you kindly for respecting my copyright and happy baking. BetterBaking.Com, established 1997.